When ex-Foreign Min. Jan Lipavský spoke out of school in Feb. about how angry the defense and security policy of the Babiš government was making U.S. Amb. Nicholas Merrick, he was breaking with diplomatic protocol to score domestic political points. PM Andrej Babiš did the same on Fri. morning after the first day of the European Council summit in Brussels. He told reporters that the EU wasn't even able to agree on whether to negotiate with Russia or who it should be. It was pretty hopeless compared to when he was the PM last time, he said. He praised Giorgia Meloni and Emmanuel Macron and spoke favorably of the old Normandy format (Angela Merkel, Macron, Vladimir Putin). Most interestingly, he singled out Friedrich Merz for not wanting to negotiate now and said that the lead could instead be taken by Meloni, Belgian PM Bart De Wever or Council Pres. António Costa. Babiš, like Lipavský, seems to see no point in adhering to the old rules when the old rules aren't working anymore anyway.